Out of Time
by Fallen Ark Angel
Summary: Laxus kept putting off the big show down with Mirajane, but after an envelope arrives at the hall with some delicate information, he finds out that time is up. - One-shot, set after Hopes and Dreams.


The guildhall wasn't much. Wasn't much at all. But then, the members that called it home didn't require it to be anything other than a stop for the occasional beer and to supply top quality jobs. It felt as if it were in a constant state of repairs, as the Master was determined to make the rundown building he'd purchased a few years previous into a force to be recon with. Like he'd done his guild.

There had been a lot of hard times, back in the beginning.

Times when jobs were far and few between, when he hardly had enough money to feed himself, much less keep his guild afloat. Periods of stagnant membership when they needed to grow. Incidences of having to let some members go that he, at one time, had called his closest friends. Worst of all, the stress of the entire thing had led, many times, to rifts between he and his woman. A lot of them.

But he'd always promised her that if she just gave him a few years, just enough time for him to get the guild off the ground, it would all pay off. Every cent of it, ever tear, every drop of blood. It would all mean so much when they were finally recognized as a top guild. When they were invited to the summits and asked to handle the tougher jobs.

When it was Dragon's Roar that people associated with the top instead of Fairy Tail.

They weren't to that point yet. At times, it felt like they never would be. But things had been improving recently. The guild felt steady both in jobs and its members. Laxus was starting to get the hang of what it meant to be over people. They weren't turning much of a profit, but they were turning one and that meant something too. The jobs were getting of a higher caliber and therefore a higher payout, which meant bigger returns.

Everything was trending in the right direction.

"I don't know why you won't do this with me."

Except for his relationship.

"Mira," Laxus groaned that far too early morning when the sun wasn't peeking over the horizon yet as the pair got ready for the day. That was another thing. Considering he and his girlfriend both stayed in a tiny space above the guildhall, the attic really, as to save on costs of living, they had to be up and ready for the day before the guildhall opened. Which, for her, wasn't a bit deal, but for him…. "I just can't, alright?"

"It's not everyday one of our guild members gets married, Laxus."

"She's not part of our guild anymore! Neither is he! We're not in Fairy Tail anymore. We're-"

"If you're not going to go with me-"

"I can't. I have things to deal with here. I told you that-"

"-then maybe I should go back to Fairy Tail."

"Over a wedding?"

"It's more than the wedding, Laxus!"

And it was.

It was a lot more.

Part of the upwards trend that the guildhall was experiencing came from Laxus' very hard work that he was putting into it. His dream. His baby. But the problem was that left very little time for Mirajane who wanted so badly for this to all work out for him, to him be successful in all of this.

Just…

Recently, she'd considered that perhaps it would be best done without her.

As she stood over by the dresser, doing her makeup, he only sat on the edge of their bed, watching her with an exasperated look. Dropping his head, he took a few deep breaths, trying not to yell at her. He didn't want her ot go back home to Magnolia talking about how horrible he was. Not that it mattered to him what those morons over there thought of him, but it would bother him for anyone to think that he and Mira's relationship wasn't the best relationship.

Honestly, he didn't see the issues that she seemed to constantly. While Mirajane seemed to feel as if she were second to his guildhall, he considered them on the same tier, if not her above it. The issue was, Mirajane didn't need as much attention as the hall. That was all. The hall was struggling and, once it was finally set, he'd give her all the attention she wanted. Everything she wanted. Just...just not yet.

If she would only wait…

"You," he finally sighed deeply as she continued to glare at him over her shoulder, "have been sick, Mira. Remember? You just went to get checked out yesterday. Do you really need to be traveling?"

"I'm not missing this wedding, Laxus, because you-"

"Don't want you traveling while you're sick?"

"I already missed the bridal shower, the bachelorette party, everything, all to help you take care of your guild-"

"Our guild. It's ours. Me and you. Together. And I told you that if it was a big deal, you could go."

"Nothing is a big deal to you, Laxus. Except your guild."

"We're not doing this right now, Mira. We're going to go open and then, if you want to go so badly, go to that stupid wedding. We can talk tonight."

And he got a dirty look full on then as she turned around to glare at him before marching out of the room.

"Open," she called over her shoulder, "yourself."

Which he hated doing. Getting things all ready for openings. But it beat arguing with the woman any longer.

Mirajane left in a huff and Laxus spent more time sulking than actively working on opening for the morning. This was fine, though, as it wasn't long before Freed showed up.

"Good," the slayer grumbled simply at the sight of the man. "You can help me open."

Freed, actually, was a bit shocked to find the slayer there as Mirajane had seemed pretty confident the day before that he would not be. She'd asked the rune mage to come by and do as Laxus was asking now, but that was because she planned for them both to attend the wedding of Natsu and Lucy.

"If you're not going, I mean, Freed," she asked in hopefulness.

"I fear I am not much the fan of weddings of late," the green-haired man had assured her. "Far too many of them far too often."

"That's what happens, you know, when everyone you know finally starts to mature and get older."

"I suppose so. But I can only sit through so many attempts at keeping the idea and concept fresh," he'd replied. "A simple service in a traditional setting would not be too bad. But these attempts to be entertaining… And there is no one that I think of as trying to be an entertainment source as Natsu. So no, I do not think I will wish to attend. I will however send them a nice gift."

And he planned to. The idea of opening the hall up for the Master and Mirajane didn't seem too bad either. He rather liked the solitude in it all, Freed did. Until he arrived and it was not solitude awaiting him, but a stressed out Laxus.

Instead of explaining any of this to his Master though, Freed only bowed to him slightly and replied, "If it's what you wish, Laxus."

"It is. The fucking demon ran out on me."

"I believe she was going to the wedding."

"Run out on me."

Well, one or the other, certainly.

Or...both, also, perhaps.

When the hall did open though, Laxus only went and sealed himself off in his office, grumbling to Freed to find someone to serve bar before he took off for the day. When he offered to be the one to do that, Laxus only grumbled out an, "Even better," before shutting the door to his office and sulking alone for awhile.

Freed was a bit lonely, out there behind the bar all alone. He knew not to expect Bickslow or Evergreen that day as both had no doubt headed back to Magnolia for the wedding. Though neither boasted any strong ties to either the bride or the groom, Ever would go to be with Elfman and Bickslow would certainly go for a free meal. While the rune mage did like many of his fellow members of Dragon's Roar, he didn't rightly consider any of them close allies.

He wasn't so sure anyone there considered themselves that just yet.

The guild was still new and many of the people recruited were the stronger mages that Laxus knew from his travels and exploits as an S-Class wizard with Fairy Tail. He knew many top wizard and had been able to convince them (and they some that weren't so strong) to join up, but that in no way meant that any strong bonds had formed. They were just the best of the best existing together for the most part.

Which was nice in itself. Though Freed had fallen quite hard for the ideals of Fairy Tail after Laxus' excommunication in their early twenties, there was something to be said for self preservation and the reliance on something other than the 'power of friendship'. Though Freed accredited Fairy Tail for shaping much of his youth, he was an adult now.

Even if Laxus hadn't formed Dragon's Roar, it probably would have been time for him to move on soon enough. Else risk hampering his own development as a mage.

There were times though, as the one that he was having in those moments, where the draw to the life he once lived, in that guild, felt strong. You were never alone, it felt like, In Fairy Tail. The sense of comradery and exploration was strong in that hall, whereas Dragon's Roar could feel a bit...sterile at times.

He was contemplating such things that day, behind the bar, when an outsider showed up at the hall. Considering Mira was away and Laxus was, well, away as well (mentally at least), Freed saw it to be his task to deal with the person.

"Hello!" he greeted in a tone of voice that felt so cringey that he dropped it immediately. Clearing his throat, he tried again. "I do not believe you are a member here and, unfortunately, our master is currently unavailable. However, if you wish to-"

The man, dressed rather nicely, only shook his head a bit as he came forwards. "I believe you are mistaken. I am the physician from the town over."

"Oh. Oh! Is there some sort of emergency?" Though Freed would never wish for such a thing, of course (who would), the idea that Dragon's Roar would be the first to be called on was exciting. They'd waited for this day, after all. "What cna-"

"No, it is not that. I have results." And the man held up an envelope then, shaking it slightly. "For one Mirajane Strauss. I typical mail such things, but I had to come into town anyways to meet someone and thought I'd save on postage. Not to mention, she seemed very interesting in receiving this as soon as possible-"

"Ah, well, Mirajane is not here currently," Freed offered with a bowed head. "But she does reside her and the Master is her closest relative, I suppose, if you wish to leave it with him."

"You will suffice, I suppose," the doctor was quick to say as he came over to hand off the envelope to the man. "So long as you do not plan on taking peeks-"

"I would never."

"Then you it is." And he dropped the letter on the bar top before tipping his cap to him. "Good day and all to you."

"You as well."

The second the man was gone, Freed snatched the letter right up and rushed to the Master's office where he just managed to stop himself from barging in and instead knocked.

"Freed, go away. I told you that-"

"I have a letter."

"And? Pout it with the others."

"For Mirajane. A doctor stopped by and left it."

That got the man up form his desk and rushing over to throw open the door.

"What?" he growled as he reached out to snatch it from his most trusted friend. "She said that she went and was fine. Why would they send her a letter? At a later date? What kind of sense does that make?"

"W-Well, some illnesses you must analyze the tests of, yes?" Freed offered up as the man only turned to stomp back into his office, the letter tightly gripped in his palm. "The more...serious aliments."

Laxus felt so many things right then. Worry, concern, fear, anger, lack of understanding as to why Mira would keep this from him. These feelings only furthered as he ripped the letter right open to find what secrets it held.

"Wait," Freed tired. "I said I wouldn't look at it."

"You're not," Laxus grumbled as he unfurled the folded sheet of paper in there. "I am."

And, well, that made as much sense as anything else in his day to day life so Freed decided not to fight his master on that.

As his eyes scoured the page for answers, Laxus remained silent though his mouth moved to form the words he was slowly digesting. Freed, only stood by, hands clasped behind his back, fearing what sort of thing Mirajane could have kept hidden from them.

When he reached the end of the letter, Laxus only dropped it and sat there silently for a moment. Freed didn't want to be too much of a pry, but...well…

"Is everything alright?" he asked finally after a few moments. "Laxus?"

His eyes were raised then, but the man only shook his head a bit before swallowing. But it was hard.

"Mira's..."

"Is it that bad?"

"No, it..." He let out a long breath too. "She's pregnant."

This was not at all what Freed was expecting. He thought some sort of terrible and horrifying disease. Although…

"That is… Are you certain?"

"It's what the fucking paper says, Freed."

Uncomfortable then, he shifted around some before asking, "Did she not make any sort of mention of such a thing to you?"

"What do you think?"

"W-Well-"

"Leave." The man's eyes fell back on the paper once more. "I need to be alone."

"A-As you wish, Laxus." He even bowed again. "I will be in the bar area if you require me."

Alone in his office, the slayer was not sure what to think or do in that moment. He'd never be in it, after all.

They could not afford a child. He'd told Mirajane that they would start trying for them only once they were able to care properly for it. And in that moment, he felt as if they were not even properly caring for themselves.

Their relationship was already rocky at the moment. While he knew that they would weather it, that he would make sure that they would weather it, he didn't know what adding another person into that relationship would do to them. A baby was...a lot to deal with. Even when there was enough jewels and a stable relationship surrounding it. In their current state…

Plus, why the fuck had she not told him about this? Huh? Why did she not tell him that she thought that this was a possiblity? Why was she hiding this from him? Why, with this hanging over her head, did she see it fit to argue with him about something as stupid as a wedding?

Laxus spent the first hour pissed off at Mirajane.

By the time the second rolled around, he felt like a jerk for feeling such a way.

Mirajane was tough and strong and all around a rugged person, but that didn't mean that she couldn't feel scared at times. And while he would hate to thing that the woman was ever afraid of him, he didn't count out the opinion that she could be fearful of the outcome that was approaching them. While he knew in his heart that they were going to be fine, that this would all turn out well in the end, their fighting might have made Mirajane a bit...well...less enthused by the idea. To then run the risk of being pregnant…

He wanted to go to Magnolia that moment to see her. To speak with her. But he knew that wouldn't go well and that he had to just stay where he was, but man if the desire to do so didn't eat at him throughout the entire day.

The third hour he thought about the baby. Because that was important too, he was beginning to remind himself. The baby was there and it was happening and wow, what did that mean? That he was a father? That was a scary though. And if he was scared, no wonder Mirajane had been.

The fourth and fifth hour Laxus just put his headphones on and tried his hardest to work though frequently his thoughts drifted and he thought of many different variation of the things from before.

What were they going to do?

They were going to have a baby. That was all there was to it.

Mirajane wouldn't be home until late that night. The guild had already closed up and, after Freed being such a sport the whole day (Laxus still not realizing Mira had requested such a thing of him before anyways), Laxus let him go home and closed up alone. Well, tried to. He mostly just swept up around the place and watched anxiously for when his girlfriend would come through the hall doors.

It was close to midnight before that happened.

She came in looking tired and worn out. He was sure she'd had a good time, maybe even not, but honestly he had no intention of asking her any of that. He only stood there, in the center of the bar, broom in hand, watching her closely as she came in.

She responded in kind, giving him a few looks of her own though her head was held high. She probably still thought he was pissed about her going to the wedding and trying to goad him into it. He wasn't though. He could honestly give a fuck about all that now.

"Well?" she finally asked once she'd more than come in. Stopping before she got to him, she only asked, "You're not going to ask me how it was? Nothing? You know, Laxus, this is why we're constantly having all these- Laxus."

He'd dropped the broom and rushed over to her so suddenly that Mirajane jumped out of surprise. That was alright though as his arms were wrapping around her then and he was holding her close, burying his nose in her hair.

"Mira," he whispered softly to the woman, "why didn't you tell me?"

"If you would just ask-"

"Not about their stupid wedding."

"You know, I try and make excuse for you, but you're such a-"

"Why didn't you tell me that you thought you were pregnant?"

She stiffened then, in his arms, but Laxus only pulled back some so that they could look at one another full on. Keeping his eyes aliened with hers, he refused to look away.

"Laxus," Mira finally tried. "How did you-"

"An envelope came for you and I thought you were sick or something."

"You opened my mail?"

"That's not the point."

"It is a little bit, yeah."

"No." He even shook his head. "Mira, why wouldn't you tell me this? Why-"

"Because, Laxus, we've been having so much problems that-"

"That what? You would try to hide-"

"It was only going to cause problems," she kept up. "And if I wasn't, then why even start them?" But then she was silent for a moment before asking him, "Am I?"

He finally looked off some and only nodded his head a bit. "Yeah, demon. You are."

It sucked then too, as she turned away from him and brought a hand up to her face to hide her tears.

They weren't happy either.

"Mira-"

"I always envisioned, like, this going so much better. This whole thing. When you brought me out here, I never thought...I never thought..."

"I'll be better.," he told her then. "I promise. I've been… I've been terrible, I know, recently, but… And if you just give me some more time-"

"Laxus, shut up."

"Mira-"

"How did it all go so bad?"

"It's not bad. And don't say it is."

"This is all we ever wanted, right?" She didn't even lift her head to look at him. Only sniffled some. "You wanted to be Master and I wanted us to have a baby. Here we are. Are you happy yet, Laxus?"

"Mira..."

"I'm going upstairs. I have to get out of this makeup and dress." She still wouldn't look at him. Only continued on through the hall. He watched her go silently, but the second she was gone, he picked up the broom and, holding it like a mallet, began slamming it into the ground. It only survived two of them before it snapped, but Laxus turned his eyes on other things he could break in his own hall. To get this all out. But the only thing that brought him any satisfaction was when he slammed his fists into the brick wall until they bled and he'd more than crumbled a few of them.

Then he went upstairs to see what Mira was doing.

She was in bed already, the blankets pulled up over her head, but he didn't hear her sobbing. Just breathing. Softly.

He said nothing to her though as he too climbed into bed, lifting up the blankets and slipping between them with her. In the darkness he watched her back as she refused to turn around to face him. He only shifted closer to her though, but didn't touch her. Because clearly she didn't want that in the moment.

"I know this isn't all...ideal or how you planned it or… Mira, I'm not lying. I'll be better. I'll try harder. I just… I'm giving my all into this guild thing because I want it, you know? This is all I ever wanted? But I want you too, now, and I know that I've been neglecting that side of things. I'm sorry. Did you hear that? Demon? I mean it. I'm wrong. Me. I promised you all this shit once we got out here and I meant to make it all happen, but I underestimated… If you want me to give it up, Mira, I will. We'll disband, go back to Magnolia and I'll take jobs again. As a mage. I'll get us enough money for a house for you and the baby and it'll all be perfect again. Like it was before I fucked it all up. I'll marry you, like I always promised. I shouldn't have done all this. I never meant for it all to get so bad. I just let it go further and further out of my control and… I thought that now that the guild was starting to make money, it would just all get better on it's own. It's clearly not. I'm wrong. I made a mistake. But I want you and this baby more than I want the hall. I know that. And I'll make sure that we have that. No more time. Now. I swear."

She didn't say much at first. Or at all. But she did finally roll over to look at him and, as he took in her tear stained cheeks and red eyes, he understood, finally, something at least. What she'd said that morning was true.

It was more than the wedding.

It was more than the guild.

It was more than the baby, now, even.

It was them.

As he swallowed this, Mirajane spoke, finally, again, as she told him simply, "You're not giving up your guild, Laxus."

"But I will," he kept up. "If that's what you want. If that's-"

"And you're not putting it off on me. Or this baby that we're apparently having."

"Mira-"

"Just… Would you just leave me alone? Please? For the night?" she asked. And he never thought it would be her requesting time away from him. Ever. "Just...be quiet for awhile."

But he'd been quiet all day with himself and it had been miserable. All he'd wanted was for her to get there, to get back home to him. Now that she was, she wanted away from him?

But that wasn't right, was it? She didn't want away from him as she neither kicked him out of the room nor moved to leave it herself. Just gave him her back and that was that.

So he rested on his own, staring up at the ceiling, and counting the hours until just before daylight when they usually got up and began going about their day. Mira never moved until the internal clock they shared woke her back up and reminded her that it was time to start the day.

As she sat up though, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and yawning some, Laxus only laid there, watching her, the silent one thing.

It was only after a few good stretches though that Mirajane turned back to the bed and scooted across it until she was on her knees beside her boyfriend. As he blinked up at her, finally, she spoke.

"This is our life now," she told him simply. "Dragon's Roar. We're never going back to Fairy Tail. We're doing this now. Forever. Until we're unable to any longer."

"Mira-"

"Things aren't going to be better because we change locations or have more jewels, Laxus." She even shook her head slightly. "There's a lot of other things that need to be addressed. You're so...distant to me recently and I've been angry at you for so long about it, but we just never talk about it. Or when we do, you storm off or tell me that you don't need to deal with this right now. Well, it's like you said before, Laxus. There is no more time. There's only now. And we're going to work it out. Right now."

Finally pushing up, he sat with his back against the headboard as he nodded some and, slowly, Mirajane sank back down onto her bottom and, even though they needed to start on opening the bar, they sat there and talked. For over an hour.

Laxus wanted to leave. A lot. Or yell. Or any of the other things that he did when presented with facts that he wasn't interested in hearing at the moment.

But he held fast like he would for anything else that he loved. Hearing his faults and coming up with a way to fix them or else lose his hall? He'd do it, wouldn't he? And Mirajane and their relationship (plus their baby) meant so much more to him than his guild ever did.

Things weren't perfect, when they finished speaking, but they both felt more on the same frequency, and as they finally left the upstairs to go start on prep, Laxus hoped they were going to be like the guildhall and finally start trending in the right direction.

It'd take a lot of work to get the hall to do so and, well, he was more than willing to put in twice that amount for Mirajane.

After all, without her there was nothing.

* * *

 **This was a request from over on Tumblr for Laxus finding out Mira was pregnant while she was out and him contemplating it until her return. I'd also been asked previous to do more on Hopes and Dreams, so I just combined the two. Though this is obviously the end for this one-shot, clearly, we got a lot more to do around Dragon's Roar and, hopefully, there'll be more one-shots for it soon.**


End file.
